Early life and education

Brown was born in Kinder, Louisiana.[1] Some sources report his birth date as September 10, 1925,[2] but the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc gave the date as September 10, 1920, on the basis of information in the 1930 census and Social Security records, and stated that 1925 is incorrect.[1]

Like many R&B singers, he started singing gospel music in church. His mother was an accomplished singer and church organist.[4] He moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s and for a short time was a professional boxer in the welterweight division. In 1945 he won a singing contest at the Million Dollar Theater, covering "There's No You", originally recorded by Bing Crosby. In 1946, Brown moved to Galveston, Texas, where he sang in Joe Coleman's group, performing mostly songs from the Hit Parade, in a nightclub called the Club Granada. His repertoire included "Good Rockin' Tonight".

After being rejected by the armed forces because of flat feet, Brown secured his first major job in a club in Shreveport, Louisiana, singing mostly pop ballads, such as "Stardust" and "Blue Hawaii". The owner of Bill Riley's Palace Park hired him, as Brown told an interviewer for Blues Unlimited, because of his appeal as "a Negro singer who sounds white."[5] It was at the Palace Park that Brown started developing a blues repertoire, learning contemporary R&B tunes such as "Jelly Jelly" (recorded by Billy Eckstine).[5] He returned to New Orleans in 1947, where he performed at the Dew Drop Inn.[6]

Career

Brown was a fan of the blues singer Wynonie Harris. When Harris appeared in town, Brown tried but failed to interest him in listening to "Good Rockin' Tonight". Brown then approached another blues singer, Cecil Gant, who was performing at another club in town. Brown introduced his song, and Gant had him sing it over the telephone to the president of De Luxe Records, Jules Braun, reportedly at 4:00 in the morning. Brown was signed to a recording contract immediately. He recorded the song in a jump blues style with a swing beat. It was released in 1948 and reached number 13 on the BillboardR&Bchart. Ironically, Harris recorded a cover version of the song, and his record rose to the top of the Billboard R&B chart later in 1948.[2] Presley also covered the song for Sun Records in 1954; it was re-released by RCA Victor when his recording contract was sold to that label in 1956.[]

Brown continued to make his mark on the R&B charts, having 14 hits for De Luxe from mid-1948 to late 1951, including "Hard Luck Blues" (1950, his biggest seller), "Love Don't Love Nobody", "Rockin' at Midnight", "Boogie at Midnight", "Miss Fanny Brown", and "Cadillac Baby", making him, along with Harris, one of the top R&B performers in those three years.

After his popularity peaked, Brown began to experience a lull in his career. Doo-wop and R&B groups were quickly gaining popularity as the standard sound of R&B in the early to mid-1950s. His declining fortune coincided with the resolution of a lawsuit against King Records for unpaid royalties in 1952, in which Brown prevailed, one of the few African-American musicians to do so in the 1950s. This coincidence has led some, such as the writer Nick Tosches (in his book Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll, which contains a chapter on Brown) to believe that Brown may have been blacklisted. Brown's other misfortunes included trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. When confronted by the government for unpaid taxes he owed, he approached Elvis Presley for help. Presley wrote him a check on a brown paper bag, but it was not enough to keep Brown out of prison for tax evasion.

Brown had a brief comeback on Imperial Records in 1957. Working with Dave Bartholomew, he returned to the charts with the original version of "Let the Four Winds Blow", co-written with Fats Domino, who would later have a hit with it.

Brown returned to King Records, but his popularity had diminished by 1959. He found sporadic work, performing wherever he was wanted, and he made some recordings through the 1960s.[2] To supplement his income, he sold the rights to "Good Rockin' Tonight". "I was selling door to door," he reminisced,[7] referring to his stint as an encyclopedia salesman.[8]